Newly Inducted Hellfish include the Famous and the Infamous

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Last Updated: 14 November 2013

     Over the years Team Flying Hellfish has attracted both the Famous and the Infamous

Miles Daisher (HF # 729) at "work" over Brazil. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it.

Miles Daisher at "work" in Spain

Bertrand Cloutier (HF # 942) in the cover photo (in red) about to exit some humongous cliff in Norway.

Sean Chuma (HF # 725) just 3 months after total knee reconstruction doing a back-flip unpacked from the rail. "What could Possibly go wrong?" Pure Hellfish !!

in the sport of Skydiving and BASE jumping.  For example two of our earliest members were Tom Sanders (HF # 108) and Norman Kent (HF # 39).  Tom was freefall videographer for numerous movies including Congo, Point Break, Golden eye, Living Daylights, Tomorrow Never Dies, Terminal Velocity, Drop Zone, 48 Hours, and Flight of the Intruder  as well as hundreds of TV Commercials and Extreme Sports shows [ http://www.aerialfocus.com/ ] .  Norman Kent has similar movie credits including Navy Seals, XXX (Vin Diesel), Get Smart, Eraser (Schwarznegger), Cliff Hanger (Stallone), and many others plus numerous commercials and TV shows [ http://www.normankent.com/  ]. 

     The latest batch of Inductees also includes the Famous and the Infamous.  In Twin Falls at the Perrine Bridge Festival we inducted 14 new members.  The most famous of these is Miles Daisher, member of the Red Bull Air Force having numerous film, TV show, and TV commercial credits on his resume.   Miles has over 3,000 BASE jumps and skydiving and BASE jumping for Red Bull is his full time job.  He lives in Twin Falls so he can get a jump in before breakfast off the Perrine Bridge.  Miles has invented two new sports: Skyaking (flying a kayak out of a plane to chute deployment and then flying it to a river landing, and Rope-Swing BASE (launching a BASE jump off a building or bridge using a rope swing as a launching device).  Check out all of Miles exploits on his bio page at the Red Bull Website [ http://redbullairforce.com/pilot/milesdaisher ]

   Another of our Inductees was Bertrand Cloutier, the leader of what we are calling the French-Canadian Connection.  Bertrand is a long time skydiver and BASE jumper as well as a BASE jump instructor from Quebec City, Quebec.  You can find him at Twin Falls or in Moab throughout the year with a class of French-Canadian BASE students.  Bertrand was one of the jumpers featured in the IMAX Film, “Adrenalin Rush: The Science of Risk”.  He is pictured on the cover of the Blu-Ray DVD making a 5-way launch off some humongous cliff in Norway.  Bertrand and his crew talk funny so we are not really sure what they are thinking most of the time – in fact some of his students do not speak English beyond a few phrases.

   Sean “Chuma” is young but a fixture in the BASE community. He perfected his aerial skills as an NCAA Pole Vaulter for the University of Nebraska.  He now lives in Twin Falls and regularly conducts First Jump Courses for BASE jumping.  Sean is extremely safety focused and provides top notch BASE Instruction getting students to accomplish specialty jumps in just a week.  He is also credited as leading the invention of Tandem BASE Jumping and currently offers these jumps on his website [ http://seanchuma.com/ ] -  check it out.  Sean and Mario Richard were the first to take Tandem Students off the New River Gorge Bridge in 2011.  Sean was featured on ABC News for taking a 102 year old great grandmother off the Perrine Bridge.  Sean, unfortunately, became a little infamous with some aerials gone bad off the Perrine 16 months ago.  His leg got tangled in the suspension lines and they nearly ripped his lower leg off on opening.  But with surgery and rehab he is fully recovered.  Like a true Hellfish he made a water landing jump off the Perrine at Bridge Fest 2012 just three months after the accident.

     Brent “Idaho” Clark lives just down the road from Twin Falls and is a fixture in the BASE jumping community.  He currently works as a Tandem BASE Carrier Pigeon (or whatever they call them) in addition to his day job.  “Idaho” got infamous last year at the 2012 Perrine Bridge Fest when he took his round parachute into the water – except the winds picked up and he landed in steep rocks on the North side of the Snake River (no-one lands there on purpose).  “Idaho” went to the hospital and received a large number of stitches to close a wound in his arm but still made it to the banquet that night at Elevation 486 and drank his share of painkiller.

This latest class of Hellfish Included (6) French-Canadians and (1) Aussie.  Congratulations to the newest members – you can see pictures of all of them on the  “Our Newest Hellfish” page.

Marty MacDonald, HF # 2 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sean Chuma with the cameras and the babes getting ready to Tandem BASE.

"Idaho" Clark (HF # 726) BASE Tandem Master

Hellfish Michigan and World Record Skydives

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Written by martymac

Last Updated: 14 June 2016

On June 21st and 22nd, 2014 Members of The Flying Hellfish set (4) State of Michigan Records and (1) World Record @ Skydive Tecumseh (MI).  On the 21st, led by Dale Maddox, a 29-Way Skydive was completed on the 4th attempt to set a new POPS (Parachutists over Phorty) Record for Largest FS Skydive in Michigan by Skydivers over 40.  The previous Michigan Record was a 22-Way set August 25th, 2002 also at Tecumseh by many of the same jumpers.  On the same day, Larry Ekstrom and Doug Coleman stablished the first Record FS Dive for Jumpers Over Seventy (JOS) - a 2-Way.

On Sunday, June 22nd in one Skydive led by Pat Solar (HF # 95) (2) Michigan Records were set for Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS): Largest FS Dive - an 11-Way and Largest Sequential FS Dive - 2-Point 11-Way.  Later Pat announced that the Sequential Record actually broke the Previous World Record of a 2-point 9-Way of SOS jumpers set April 7th, 2014 @ Lake Elsinore, CA

Participants in the POPS Michigan Record 29-Way Skydive were:

Dale Maddox – Organizer (HF # 32)

Mike Crow – Trail Plane Lead (HF # 475)

Ronda Cheever (HF # 33)

Matthias Riemann

“Sporto” Johnson (HF # 69)

Bob Harris (HF # 210)

Mike Reed (HF # 53)

Margaret Crouch (HF # 52)

Doug Eggleston (HF # 883)

Franz Gerschwiler (HF # 405)

Ron Poore (HF # 288)

Keith Rehmel (HF # 425)

Steve Kanat (HF # 480)

Kim Kanat (HF # 478)
Rick Fitzpatrick (HF # 895)

Ed Sped (HF # 887)

Stew Elder (HF # 884)

Ron O’Brien

Mike Nestor (HF # 567)

Larry Ekstrom (HF # 121)

Pat Solar (HF # 95)

Linda Manges (HF # 96)

Larry Stein

Terry (T.C.) Curtis

Tom Ruprecht

Cliff Alfichie (HF # 94)

Gary Wilkinson

Todd ???

Marty MacDonald (HF # 2)

Video – Ryan Hanold (HF # 491)

Video – Brian Sheehan (HF # 565)

Photo by Ryan Hanold

Photo by Brandi Hinkley - B Cre8tive Photography

Participants in the SOS Michigan and World Record 2-Point 11-Way were:

Pat Solar - Organizer (HF # 95)

Dale Maddox  (HF # 32)

Ronda Cheever (HF # 33)

Bob Harris (HF # 210)

Mike Reed (HF # 53)

Mike Nestor (HF # 567)

Larry Ekstrom (HF # 121)

Linda Manges (HF # 96)

Michael Matthews

Tom Ruprecht

Marty MacDonald (HF # 2)

Video – Ryan Hanold (HF # 491)

Photo by Ryan Hanold: 1st Point

Photo by Ryan Hanold: 2nd Point

Hellfish of the Month - May, 2014

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Written by martymac

Last Updated: 14 June 2016

We have nominated Dennis Valdez (HF # 954) as "Hellfish of the Month".  His X-rays clearly display the fine atrributes and skills normally possessed by a Hellfish in good standing. (I needn't point out that skill and aptitude are generally lacking in the typical Hellfish).  Dennis apparently acquired this additional hardware in  a freak accident he describes on Facebook as "Broke it on a BASE jump landing yesterday [4-27-14]. Nasty gust of wind put me sideways just a few meters off the ground and I came down hard on it" Hmmmmmm????  Ouch!!!

Dennis Valdez (HF # 954 in red) with Gabriel Ruiz at Barking Spiders

Bubba Announces His Retirement

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Last Updated: 14 June 2016

Joe “Bubba” Phillips (Hellfish #7) has announced his retirement as the Midwest Regional Director for Team Flying Hellfish. Bubba has served in this position since around 1997 - about 16 years. He has really been the face of the Hellfish and one of its most colorful characters throughout his service in his
office.

Bubba has been the “Mother” of the Hellfish tent at The World Free Fall Convention at both Quincy and Rantoul, Ill and subsequently at Summerfest at Skydive Chicago. Bubba has been our rep to numerous boogies involving similar organization like the Rodriquez Brothers, the Muff Brothers, etc. Bubba has also been the irreplaceable host for numerous Toga Parties at Boogies as well as at our home DZ, Skydive Tecumseh (MI).   Bubba is of course margarita maker extraordinaire sometimes ably assisted by P.F. (HF #494) and Rex (HF # 50). Bubba and Ed Devine (HF # 18) invented the Hellfish temporary tattoo as a promotional device. Of course his partners in crime, Michael Wolfe (HF # 15) and Brian P.F. Johnston (HF # 494) took the art of applying tattoos to new levels no longer promoting the Hellfish so much as simply promoting debauchery.   Bubba is long renowned for his expertise in getting attractive females to disrobe. He would wander thru the party tent at the WFFC with his helmet cam with the semi official logo “Bounce Productions”. The girls thought they were going to be in a “Girls Gone Wild” video and cooperated accordingly. The tattoos were just a logical extension of these humble beginnings.

Bubba is a staunch defender of his friends and is well remembered for the night some drunk took a swing at Rocky at the WFFC as Bubba and Rocky were driving by on Bubba’s golf cart. Bubba got off the cart and promptly decked the guy with one punch.

Bubba has obviously left a huge hole to fill as the Midwest Regional Director. He has hand selected his successor, Aaron “Mini-Me” Burwell (HF # 794) as the new Midwest Regional Director.   Since it will take two people to replace Bubba, Rex Bertrand (HF #50) will act as Aaron’s Assistant Director. Aaron has already eagerly embraced this new role by funneling several skydives. Just kidding...seriously, Aaron has hosted the Hellfish Tent and Toga party for the last two years at Skydive Chicago Summerfest.  He has been assisted by Becca "3-Way" Burns (HF # 908) and Rex.  Aaron is involved with Hellfish T-Shirts and is now issuing Hellfish cards and numbers.  Aaron has also made a personal financial committment to all these endeavors and will be an outstanding Director.   Please thank Aaron the next time you see him for taking on this thankless job.

We will all miss Bubba’s leadership in the organization but hope that he will continue to join us for Boogies and Toga Parties. A big HellfishThanks to Joe “Bubba” Phillips for his faithful service in holding the organization together all these years.

by Marty MacDonald (HF #2)

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